Convicted Ohio killer Dennis McGuire
became on Thursday the first prisoner put to death using a new lethal
drug combo. US officials used intravenous doses of two drugs, the
sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone, to put McGuire to
death. Human rights activists accuse state authorities of testing
poisons on people. Kara Gotsch, Director of National Programs at the
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, discussed the
controversial issue in a new interview.
What’s
your take on the new method used for the execution of a Mr.McGuire? Do
you think the use of this never-tried combination is justified?
I
certainly think it is very troubling that Ohio is going to such extreme
measures to execute its citizens with not previously used drug protocol
when there are so many questions about the legitimacy of the penalty to
begin with.
What is the authorities explanation? Why did they decide to use this poison?
Pentobarbital,
which was the most commonly used drug in the US, not just in Ohio but
across the country, has dried out, supplies of this drug are not made
available because the European manufacturer of Pentobarbital has now
been banned in the US for executions. So, as a results, not just Ohio
but states across the country are looking at alternative drugs to use
for lethal injection and executions through lethal injection. And lots
of experimentation has been going on in Florida, in Missouri and now as
you see in Ohio where previously untested drugs are being used. And we
are also seeing states going to what is called compounding pharmacies
which are not watched over by the food and drug administration in the US
using drugs that have not been properly screened and using them on
prisoners which is extremely troubling. The procurement of these drugs
is happening in some states in secret and we don’t know where the drugs
are coming from or who exactly is making them and so it is quite a
troubling development.
Am
I getting you right, you cannot say that you are actually against this
particular drug? It is just a matter of transparency. You want to know
more information about this drug.
Yes,
in the US our constitution bans cruel and unusual punishment. And
lethal injection over the years has become the preferred standard of
execution in the US because of a belief that it is less cruel and less
painful and more humane to execute someone by that means. Now because
the drug protocol is changing and there is so much uncertainty about
what the appropriate drug protocol should be, we need to do a lot of
research and estimate of making sure that the drugs we are using are in
fact humane, which is required under the US constitution that bans cruel
and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, the states like Ohio don’t
believe that allowing pain in execution violates the constitution and I
certainly would disagree with that. If there is pain involved, that
would be a violation of the constitution.
McGuire's
last-minute request to delay the execution has been rejected. In your
opinion, can this be considered a human rights violation?
I
think it is very unfortunate that the Federal judge in that case
allowed the process to continue. I think they have made some assessments
that uncertainty is going to exist because the states are in the
position now trying to find alternative drugs to use in lethal injection
cases. And so I guess there is some acceptance that there will be a
level of uncertainty on the effectiveness of these drugs and whether
they in fact will do what they are supposed to do, which is to kill the
death row prisoner in a humane way if that is at all possible.
US: Ohio executes killer with experimental lethal drug combo
A
condemned Ohio killer appeared to gasp several times during his
prolonged execution with the first use of a never-tried lethal injection
process never before tried in the US.
Death
row inmate Dennis McGuire made several loud snorting or snoring sounds
during the more than 15 minutes it appeared to take him to die.
It was one of the longest executions since Ohio resumed capital punishment in 1999.
McGuire's
stomach rose and fell several times as he repeatedly opened and shut
his mouth as his adult children sobbed a few feet away in a witness room
as they watched him die.
McGuire was sentenced to die for the death of 22-year-old Joy Stewart in Preble County in western Ohio.
Experimentation in US prisons: Ohio to use untested drug in execution
The
state of Ohio is scheduled to inject Dennis McGuire, 53, with two drugs
this Thursday. First, the killer will be injected with the sedative
midazolam and then the painkiller hydromorphone. When it is over,
McGuire will be dead – which is Ohio’s goal - but the procedure is
untried and untested. Indeed, the drugs that the state will employ have
never been used in a death chamber. Experts have warned in legal
proceedings that if the process goes wrong, McGuire will not just
peacefully drift away, but will be awake, struggling and failing to pull
enough air into his lungs, until the drug overdose that will kill him
takes hold. Nonetheless, a federal judge refused to stop the upcoming
execution of a condemned Ohio killer.
Judge
Gregory Frost's ruling moved Dennis McGuire one step closer to
execution by the two-drug method developed after supplies of Ohio's
former execution drug dried up. Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio Parole
Board have both rejected McGuire's plea for clemency.
The
judge said McGuire had failed to present evidence that he would suffer
breathing problems alleged by his attorneys, a phenomenon known as "air
hunger", and said the risk to McGuire is within constitutional limits.
"The evidence before this court fails to present a substantial risk that McGuire will experience severe pain," Frost said.
Frost,
a veteran of Ohio death penalty litigation, acknowledged the novelty of
the state's untried method, calling it "an experiment in lethal
injection processes".
But
until a method violates the Constitution, "The law teaches that Ohio is
free to innovate and to evolve its procedures for administering capital
punishment," Frost said.
The
judge rejected a similar request last year by death row inmate Ronald
Phillips, who was set to become the first to die by the new method until
Kasich delayed his execution to study the feasibility of Phillips'
donating organs to family members.
In
the past, other death row inmates have challenged Ohio's lethal drugs
on the grounds that they might suffer a severe allergic reaction or were
too obese to be put to death humanely.
McGuire, 53, is scheduled to die Thursday for the 1989 rape and fatal stabbing of Joy Stewart in Preble County in western Ohio.
Allen
Bohnert, the attorney who argued McGuire's case before Frost, did not
immediately comment, saying he planned to confer with the rest of
McGuire's legal team.
McGuire
also asked the US Supreme Court to delay the execution on the grounds
that the jury that sentenced him to die never got to hear the full
extent of his chaotic and abusive childhood.
In
the lethal injection appeal, McGuire's lawyers had asked Frost to delay
the execution while they challenge the proposed two-drug system.
The
drug combination won't sedate death row inmate McGuire properly, and he
will experience the suffocation-like air hunger syndrome, McGuire's
attorneys said in filings earlier this month.
"McGuire
will experience the agony and terror of air hunger as he struggles to
breathe for five minutes after the defendants intravenously inject him
with the execution drugs," the inmate's attorneys said in a Jan. 6 court
filing.
They also said McGuire exhibits several symptoms of sleep apnea, which could exacerbate the problem.
The
state opposed any delay, presenting evidence that disputed the air
hunger scenario. They called McGuire's appeal an eleventh-hour request
that was years too late.
The
US Constitution bars cruel and unusual punishment. But that doesn't
mean execution procedures must be entirely comfortable, Thomas Madden,
an assistant Ohio attorney general, told Frost on Friday.
"You're not entitled to a pain-free execution," Madden said.
Supplies of Ohio's former execution drug, pentobarbital, dried up as its manufacturer put it off limits for executions.
Ohio's
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction plans to use a dose of
midazolam, a sedative, combined with hydromorphone, a painkiller, to put
McGuire to death.
Other death penalty states are being challenged by supply shortages.
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